Label.



No. 702,350. Patented lune l0, |902.

0. E. HowAnu.

LABEL.

(Application led Dec. B, 1901.)

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES GEORGE E. HOWARD, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

LABEL,

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 792,350, dated J' une 10, 1902.

Application iled December 6, 1901.

sean No. 84,944. (Nt model.)

4To all when/L t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. HOWARD, a

citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Labels, of which the following is a specification. 'l

My invention relates to an improvement in labels; and the object is to provide a dissoluble label having adhesive qualities and carrying label subject-matter thereon so that when the label is applied to a moistened surface or is moistened and'applied to the objects to be labeled it will dissolve and disappear, leaving only the label `subject mattei` visible and legible. l

Afurther object is to provide a label of similar character with a backing of a transparent nature which gives strength to the label and facilitates handling it and applying it.

It consists in a sheet of gelatin, ldissoluble by moisture or heat and having the label subject-matter thereon, in connection with a quence and is subject to all sorts of variation, i 5o transparent reinforcing material, textile or otherwise, of comparatively fine ber and coarse mesh.

My invention further consists in certain novel'featur'es of construction .and combination of parts, which will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are the front and reverse sides of the label. Fig. 3 is a section. Figs. 4 and 5 are views corresponding to Figs. l and 2 and showing in addition the reinforcing material, and Fig. 6 is a transverse section.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, A represents the label. It consists of a sheet of dis-- soluble gelatin, transparent, adhesive, and non-poisonous. On the back or reverse side the label subject-matter is printed, preferably in indelible transfer-ink' and in reverses so that the label subject-matter is read forward through the label from the-obverse side. The subject shown is as follows: Inspected by U. S. Bureau of .Animal Industry according to acts of Congress 1891 and 1895. iOf course the subject'- matter'- is ofno special consethe idea being to print the subject-matter of whatever character upon the reverse side and in reverse order, so that it is read forward.

through the obverse side of the label.

My improved label is particularlyintended for labeling meats inspected 'by the government, as the subject-matter indicated would imply. Constructed as it is it isquickly applied and is eectual in the accomplishment l of its purposes. lt performs its mission and as a label, in the sense of-its being a tangible article of manufacture, wholly disappears or dissolves, becoming ne longer tangible and losing its identity, but leaving the subjectmatter indelibly printed on the surface to be labeled. The moisture of thesurface when it is meat is almost always suicient to canse the label to adhere and dissolve; but should additional moisture be required it is a'simple matter to apply it either to the surface to be labeled or to the label.

These labels are applied with great rapid-- ity, and to facilitate handling them and also to give added'strength it may be desirable in some, perhaps many, instances to employ a transparent fabric to reinforce the` gelatin sheet. The fabric used may bevaried, it being desirable merely that its fibers should be comparativelyine and the mesh relatively coarse, different meshes being employed to spit the requirements. I prefer touse a textile fabric, such as tarlatanor the like, for this purpose; but it is \-obvious that that is n'ot necessary, could be employed, or woven wire, for that matter, so long as 'the mesh is of suilicient relative size and the threads or fibers forming it are sufficiently small to give it the nec-1 essary transparency. When the reinforcing material is used, the two substances-,v-namely, the reinforcing-web A and the gelatin-are as a variety ,of different textiles laid upon each other and rolled or pressed or.' otherwise treated to cause them to adhere. l.

A label thus constructed is used as previously described in connection with Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and the gelatin dissolves as before,1eaving the print upon surface to ,be labe1ed.

The webbing may then be removed. The

webbing thusgives strength to the gelatin,

especially if the gelatin is 'very thin, and it not only reinforces it,fbu t it also facilitates handling,because it gives 'aslightly-roughcned surface to the obverse or face side, or

to whichever side it is applied, thus making the handling with the thumb or finger much easier. In packing the labels for use it is the intention to place the obverse side upward; but should an occasional one get into the package upside down the operator can always detect it immediately by the roughness of the obverse side when the label is as it should be "or the corresponding smoothness of the reverse side if placed in the package wrong. In this way by the mere touch he knows just how to apply the label to the surface to be labeled. In this way a perfect label is given to the object to be labeled or stamped, and at the same time the labeling is quickly and eectually accomplished, and none of themay terials used are either poisonous or detrimenthereon in reverse on its reverse side, which subject-matter is transferable upon the object to be marked or labeled. t

2. A label consisting of a webbing having scacco a gelatin or lm spread thereon and carrying the label subject-mat ter printed in reverse on the medium thus formed.

3. A label consisting of a webbing having an adhesive gelatin or film spread thereon and carrying the label subject-matter printed in reverse on the medium thus formed.

4. Atransparent label composed of a webbing having a transparent gelatin or film spread thereon and the medium thus formed carrying the label subject-matter.

5. A transparent label composed of a textile of comparatively fine fiber and coarse mesh and a transparent gelatin or lm spread thereon, the medium thus formed carrying the label subject-matter.

6. A transparent label composed of a coarsely-woven transparent web, a transparent gelatin or lm'thinly spread thereon and having an adhesive surface, the label sub ject-matter printed in reverse on the adhesive surface of the gelatin or ilm.

In 'testimony whereof I have signed. this Specication in the presence of two subscribi-ng witnesses.

I e130. E. HOWARD. Witnesses: V

WATTS T. ESTABROOK, GEO. E. FRECH. 

